


Girl's Night

by LeChatRouge673



Series: Thea's Song [10]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Modern AU, friendship fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-19 22:27:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14882387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeChatRouge673/pseuds/LeChatRouge673
Summary: Prompted fic for @poweredbycoffeeandwine: To make it official: I am humbly requesting a Friendship fic. Please, oh Magnificent and Glorious Annie, will you write the ladies getting together for girls night as discussed? (I'm being vague on purpose to not give the fun away).





	Girl's Night

“Catkin, you may be overthinking this.”

Thea’s comment was not unkind, but Cataline glared at her anyways. “If I had been thinking at all, I would have never let you talk me into this. _Why_ did I ever think this was a good idea?”

“I think I may have to agree with Cat on this one,” Anora spoke up, her arms crossed over her bare midriff. “And is it me, or is it absolutely freezing in here?”

“Trust me kittens, you’ll be grateful for that once we actually get moving,” Isabela shot them a grin and a wink. The Rivaini woman, when she wasn’t doing freelance work for the DPD or for Varric and Ven at The Hanged Man, also taught the occasional belly dancing class. Thea and Ravenna had been taking lessons for years, and had finally convinced Cat and Anora to give it a chance.

Ven stood up from the deep stretch she had contorted herself into and took a place beside Cat, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders and dropping a brief kiss to her head. “Just remember: this is supposed to be fun. I think you’ll enjoy it, if you can just let go of the tension.”

“Asking me to let go of the tension usually requires a great deal more alcohol,” Anora interjected drily. “Besides, I am still not certain this is something I should even be doing.”

Thea rolled her eyes. “Nora, queens are allowed to do fun stuff too. You are even allowed to enjoy it.”

“Perhaps,” Anora retorted, “But I also suspect they shouldn’t be running around half undressed in public.”

“You’re not in public, Nora, you’re in a private studio with no windows and four other women who adore you and want you to have a chance to relax and actually enjoy yourself,” Bela stated firmly. “Now, let’s have Teddy work with you and Ven work with Cat, since they have more experience.”

Cat took a deep breath, trying to shake her nerves. Bela was right: it was just the five of them, and she trusted everyone in this room to, first of all, not laugh at what she suspected would be an extremely clumsy attempt at belly dancing and second of all, to keep whatever happened in this room confined to this room. She reached over and gave Anora’s hand a brief squeeze and what she hoped was a comforting smile, and was gratified to see the other woman relax slightly as she returned the gesture.

“You two both a couple of huge advantages,” Ven pointed out as she began demonstrating a series of simple hip rotations, slowly enough that Cat could follow. “Same as Thea, really: you’re naturally graceful and your movements already tend towards being fluid.”

“Exactly,” Thea nodded in agreement, gently correcting the placement of Anora’s foot before straightening and throwing a rare, full smile in Cat’s direction. “Also? Being able to mentally compartmentalize is an asset here, which is something we all tend to be good at. Being able to isolate different parts of your body is not all that dissimilar, so I think you will take to this better than you are giving yourselves credit for.”

Cat watched Ven carefully, copying the movements of her hips as near as she could. Bela put on some suitable music to help them keep time, but for this first lesson they would just be learning basic steps. Any sort of choreography would come down the line, if she managed to find the nerve to keep coming to the lessons.

Much to her surprise, Cat actually found herself enjoying the process; the way her motions seemed to flow easily from her wrists through her arms down to her waist and through her hips and feet. When she looked up at the mirror, she saw that Anora was smiling too. Bela was a patient instructor, and Cat and Ven were just as quick to praise as they were to offer gentle corrections.

“Alright, that’s the hour!” Bela announced, switching off the music and grabbing her water bottle.

“Already?” Cat looked up at the clock.

Thea laughed, reaching for her gym bag and her flip flops. “I know, it goes by quickly doesn’t it?”

“I can’t believe it went by so fast,” Anora agreed, and Cat could swear there was just a hint of disappointment in her tone.

“So, was it as misery-inducing as you thought it would be?” Ven asked as she gathered her long, raven hair up into a high ponytail and pulled an old band t-shirt on over her sports bra.

Anora laughed softly. “Not at all. In fact, I- I would even go so far as to say I enjoyed it a great deal. And you were right: my body warmed up quickly.”

“Just wait until summer,” Thea said, opening the door and ushering the group out into the hall and then out the front of the studio into the muted twilight of a spring evening in the city. “That is when you will _really_ be grateful for the AC.”

Cat smiled as they all tossed their bags into the back of Thea’s car and Bela waved them goodbye. “And what, exactly, makes you so certain that Nora and I are willing to subject ourselves to this on a weekly basis?”

Thea shrugged, but from the backseat Cat could see a smile in the rearview mirror. “Call it a lucky guess. Besides, we haven’t even gotten to the best part.”

“What’s that?” Anora asked from the passenger seat.

Ven grinned.

“Post-class cocktails at Thea’s place.”


End file.
